As the Q4 2017 earnings season gets in full gear, we will see some blue-chip healthcare companies dazzle investors with above-average corporate earnings. However, get ready to see how the U.S. economy overall performed in Q4 as we will see the GDP figure on Friday as well.
Two key players in the global healthcare industry, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ ) and Novartis AG (NVS ), are expected to grow their bottom lines compared to last year. So if your portfolio has any substantial exposure to the healthcare sector, it might be a good idea to keep an eye on the bottom line of these two companies as they may signal how the broader industry performed last quarter.
Record-high consumer confidence fueled by a strong labor market kept investors guessing how the overall U.S. economy did in Q4, especially after the housing market rebounded. This week, we will finally get the existing and new home sales data and see if the boom continued. After all, most people might have been busy with Christmas plans instead of looking for a house to buy.
To conclude, expect increased volatility after Wednesday, as several economic data will be released. Only after that can we properly estimate how high the market may go.
Check out last week’s Market Glance here in which investors focused on a number of Wall Street earnings.
